Returning
by Buzzergirl787
Summary: When Dylan, Nudge, Gazzy and Iggy vanish Max finds herself more helpless than ever. What will she do to get them back? And what is Mission Returning?
1. Chapter 1 Beginnings

I soared aimlessly through the clouds, watching my flock below. I could see Dylan a bit to my right chatting with Gazzy and Iggy. Probably discussing how to frighten me with another bomb. I'd felt really angry when I realised that Dylan was using my pain to get in with the other boys but then he had apologised. I don't know why but I accepted. Now it seemed so long ago that Iggy would sneak gas bombs into his room and set them off while Dylan was sleeping. I used to think that was the worst thing anyone could do to him. Then I began to see what Nudge and Angel did. At first they gave him the cold shoulder but then they started gossiping and laughing at him. Everything he did seemed to aggravate the situation until finally the girls gave up and accepted him. Well maybe I threatened to take away the TV but I'm sure they wanted to accept him anyway.

That night Iggy served pizza. I smiled at his presentation. For a blind kid Iggy can cook pretty well. I sat down and picked up a slice just before I bit into it a wave of nausea hit me. Then another. Then another. I swallowed and raced over to the sink.

"Hey Max are you ok?" Nudge asked. I barely heard her over the pounding in my head. After a few seconds I threw up.

"Ew!" Nudge muttered under her breath.

"I'm going to bed now" I whispered.

"You don't need anything?" Dylan asked.

"No"

"Yes, you do Max. You need to sit down" whispered Voice. I gasped.

"Long Time no see Voice." I thought.

"You don't have to be so strong all the time Max. Just relax."

"Oh sure. Relaxing will make everything so much better!" I waited for some poetic response. None came. Damn Voice.

"Max are you sure you're ok?" Gazzy interrupted.

"Yes. Now see you tomorrow." I looked across my flock and I noticed Angel had gone a bit pale and had put down her pizza.

"I'm going to bed too" she said.

That night I dreamt that I died over and over. Each time I died I was brought back to life. Every time I came back there was a face. I could never see it properly but it was so familiar. When I woke up I was crying. I wiped my tears away angrily. It was just a dream Max. Why are you getting so worked up? Eventually I fell back into a dreamless sleep.

"Max?" a voice whispered.

"Max?" I ignored the voice and tried to go back to sleep.

"Max?"

Why wasn't it going away?

"Max?"

"Go away" I muttered

"MAX? Please!" the voice hissed.

I opened my eyes groggily. Angel stared at me, fear shadowing her face.

"What?"

"Something's happened" she whispered.

Oh god. I threw off the covers and sat up.

"What's happened?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

"I can't find anyone" she sobbed. "Their gone. Vanished"

I ran and got changed. Angel cried silently.

"Come on. Let's look around."

I tip-toed out into the corridor. Angel followed. I peered into the kitchen.

Empty plates were stacked on the counter. There was a cup of coffee sitting on the table, steam rising from it. They hadn't been gone long.

"When did you last see them Angel?" I whispered.

"When they got up I was already awake. I went for a fly around 'coz I wanted to stretch my wings. I was only gone a minute when I heard Nudge scream." She began to cry again.

"Ok. I think we should look around. If they didn't check in my room then maybe they were in a rush and they can't get away."

"Or maybe they just thought you were with me" Angel said.

I sighed. She was probably right.

"First we need to see if they were kidnapped or if they just went for a walk." Ok I know that's unlikely but it seemed to calm Angel down. I spread my wings out and ran onto the front porch. Angel followed. We took off the ground with a blast. The wind whistled around me, ruffling my feathers. Once I was high enough I began to scan the ground. After a few minutes of searching my eyes caught a shape on the ground. I nodded at Angel. She looked down and saw it too. We circled closer to it. Finally I recognised its shape.

"No" I gasped. I took to the ground and broke into a run. The clearing was a mess. Fragments from a car were scattered everywhere. Bullet shells were littered across the grass. But that wasn't what I was looking at. I was looking at the boy. Not him. Not my Gazzy.


	2. Missing

"_No" I gasped. I took to the ground and broke into a run. The clearing was a mess. Fragments from a car were scattered everywhere. Bullet shells were littered across the grass. But that wasn't what I was looking at. I was looking at the boy. Not him. Not my Gazzy._

I burst into tears. I don't cry very often but when I do the floodgates open.

"Max!" Angel shook me. "Max he's still breathing!" Oh my god. He was.

"Angel! Go back to the house and call my mum!" She nodded and flew off. I looked down at Gazzy. His hair was tangled and stained with blood. His face and arms were bruised so much they were purple.

"Sorry about this Gazzy" I whispered. I picked him up as carefully as I could. He wasn't very heavy but I knew I would struggle to get him back to the house. As I began to lift off he moaned.

"Sorry Gaz" I whispered. It probably only took a minute to get back to the house but it felt like forever. Gazzy moaned every time I moved. By the time I had gotten Gazzy home, Angel had called my mum and Jeb.

"Where should I put him?" I asked. Angel gestured towards the couch. I put him down and raced to find some water and bandages. When I returned Angel was sitting next to her brother.

"Here" I said, passing her a jug of water. She just looked at me blankly.

"Wash his cuts. Look for bullet wounds. Wait for help"

"Where are you going then?" She asked.

"To look for the rest of the flock." She nodded.

I searched for nearly an hour. Nothing. There were two blown up cars at the clearing and dozens of bullet casings. But no other people. One thought kept rolling around my mind: Why leave Gazzy? Surely they would've noticed he was alive. But maybe this was a message to me. Or was I just being egocentric? Maybe this was an attack on the whole flock. But why leave me then? And what about Angel? After my fruitless search I went home again. Gazzy was still asleep on the couch. He had no more blood in his hair and his arms were bandaged.

"Angel? Where are you?" I called. She popped her head out from Nudge's room.

"Sorry." She said. "I was looking for something. Just give me a minute" I sat down near Gazzy. His breathing sounded normal but every now and then he would groan.

"Found it" Angel called. She walked out with a plate in her hand.

"What's that for?' I asked.

"I think the flock was drugged."

"Why do you think that?"

"Well they didn't fight their attacker. I think it was the breakfast. I didn't eat. You didn't eat and Gazzy barely ate. Maybe he woke up so they dumped him."

"Ok. That makes sense. But why were you looking for a plate?" She rolled her eyes.

"Because this is the plate Nudge put her breakfast on. She had pancakes with honey." She pointed to the dried honey that marked the plate. Before I could respond I heard an engine.

"Oh crap" Angel hissed. Any other time I would have told her off for bad language. But not now.

"We can't leave Gazzy here and I can't fly quickly while holding him" I said.

"We'll have to hide then" Angel answered. I nodded and we moved Gazzy into a cupboard.

"Stay here with him" I told Angel. I locked the door behind me. The car was pulling up now. I was running out of time. I ran and pulled myself into a skylight. I had made sure the house had skylights for a quick escape and now I was really thankful for my decision. I heard the door open and the sound of footsteps came in.

"Max! Angel? Please come out!" It was my mum with Ella and Jeb. My mum looked panicked. Her face was pale and her hands were balled into fists. When I jumped down she screamed.

"Mum its ok!" I said.

"Max! Where's Angel? Where's Gazzy?" she sobbed.

"Oh crap. I'll go get them." I raced over to the cupboard. I unlocked it and helped Angel out. I got Gazzy and put him on the couch. My mum gasped and immediately got out a stethoscope.

"What happened Maximum?" Jeb asked. While Angel told him and Ella what happened I checked up on Gazzy. Just before I uttered a word his eyes opened. I smiled at him and he blinked.

"How are you Gazzy?" I asked. He muttered some garbled response. I smiled and got him some water. He gulped it down.

"Where's everyone else?" he whispered.

"We were hoping you could tell us" I replied.

"I remember eating some breakfast and then everyone fell asleep. When I woke up I was in a car. I saw Nudge there but I couldn't see anyone else" he sobbed.

"What happened when you woke up?" Jeb asked.

"I fought back" Gazzy responded. "I kicked and yelled but Nudge didn't do anything. The car stopped and I flew out and I got shot at. I had a bomb in my pocket so I threw it at them. I blew up a car or maybe it was two. I don't remember. I heard Iggy yelling. I was still tired and I couldn't fly so I fell. When I was on the ground a man kicked me and said I was dead. " I nodded listening to his every word, looking for a hint to who had taken my flock.

"Why didn't they take me?" I asked.

"They wanted you to suffer. They took us to torment you."

"Why? Why was this attack so god damn personal?" I shouted.

Gazzy flinched before whispering: "I don't think it was so personal."

'Why do you say that?" asked Jeb.

"Because we weren't the only mutants in the clearing. There must have been 30 other creatures. I think someone is hunting all the mutant experiments down."


End file.
